The New York Giants have been known as a team that starts fast out of the gates. Under Tom Coughlin, the Giants have never been at or below .500 after eight games. They’ve been at least 5-3 every year and they’ve been 6-2 or better seven times in nine seasons since Coughlin took over. They are also known for their second half collapses–the Giants have compiled a 27-37 combined record in the final eight games of the season.

In the five times the Giants started 6-2 before 2012, they’ve only had a winning record in the second half of the season once (2005). The other four times, they went 2-6, 4-4 twice and last year went 3-5 in the final eight. It’s become a problem that Coughlin is fully aware of, but struggles to find answers for. So 6-2 may seem like a solid start, but if history is any indication, the Giants are in for a rough second half.

Defensive captain Justin Tuck knows this and hopes he and the rest of his teammates can prevent the collapse.

“What I am worried about is what we have always done,” Tuck said. “We’ve always been 6-2 at the break or 5-2 at the break. We’ve got to figure out a way to make sure we keep this thing going. We don’t have time to sit back and gloat about 6-2, because we know that we’ve still got a gauntlet to go through and this thing can turn for the worse if we don’t keep focused and keep doing what we are doing. The NFC is going to be the powerhouse of the NFL this year. So we’ve got to keep pace. Atlanta is still undefeated, San Fran you know is going to be there at the end.”

Giants players have said this before. Now they just need to apply it on the field.